top of page
Search

Santa Monica COVID-19 memorial event is part of a push for a national day of mourning

  • Kayla Broberg
  • Mar 28, 2022
  • 2 min read

By Alex Wigglesworth | LA Times Staff Writer Feb. 28, 2021 11:42 am PT


A Santa Monica memorial honoring those who have died of COVID-19 is part of a grass-roots push to designate a national day of remembrance, organizers say.

The memorial will take place at noon Monday at Building Bridges Art Exchange, where an installation of felt roses by artist Marcos Lutyens pays tribute to those from Los Angeles’ Westside who have died of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Volunteers will lay a wreath as part of the Floral Heart Project, an effort launched by New York artist Kristina Libby that is coordinating the laying of wreaths in about 75 U.S. cities and towns.

Los Angeles leadership coach Carolyn Freyer-Jones will lead participants in a minute of silence. She and her brother founded the Friday Minute, which encourages people to pause for 60 seconds each week to remember those affected by COVID-19. Their father died of the disease in July, on his 86th birthday. The family hasn’t yet been able to hold funeral services due to health restrictions.

“There are so many people who have not been able to honor their loved ones in the usual rituals,” Freyer-Jones said Sunday. “And so many people are grieving in so many different ways.”


As word of her project spread via Instagram, Freyer-Jones connected with others organizing memorial efforts, including Kristin Urquiza, a San Francisco social justice advocate who also lost her father to the virus. Urquiza drew attention when she appeared during the Democratic National Convention and issued a scathing condemnation of then-President Trump, saying her father had believed him when he and other officials downplayed the severity of the coronavirus and suggested it was a hoax.


Urquiza and partner Christine Keeves went on to found Marked by COVID, a nonprofit that advocates for people affected by the pandemic and is leading the call for a nationwide day of mourning. The Santa Monica event is one of more than 100 being staged across the country Monday with an eye toward establishing a permanent COVID memorial day, according to the group.


The movement appears to be gaining steam. On Friday, U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) introduced a resolution to designate the first Monday in March a memorial day for victims and survivors of COVID-19, although the companion legislation required to make it an annual tradition hasn’t yet been introduced in the Senate. Multiple cities and states also have passed local ordinances to the same effect, according to Marked by COVID.


“Independent of your feelings about how the government has handled the pandemic, a national day of mourning for all the loss seems like a really simple thing we can all agree on,” Freyer-Jones said. “Given what everyone has walked through, whether you’ve lost someone or not, a national day of mourning would be very healing for many, many people.”


The U.S. death toll from the virus surpassed 500,000 on Monday, and roughly 512,000 people have now died.


 
 
 

Comments


Featured Posts
Recent Posts
Archive
Search By Tags
Follow Us
  • Grey Facebook Icon
  • Grey Twitter Icon
  • Grey Instagram Icon
 OUR GRANTS 
NPN-VAN-Logo-Color-RGB_edited.jpg

Support from the

National Performance

Network (NPN)

CSM_Brandmark_Stk_blk.png

Supported in part by a grant from the City of Santa Monica & Art of Recovery, an initiative of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs

artsandculturelogo_1000x1000.png

Support in part by a grant from the Los Angeles County

Department of Arts & Culture

Getty_Foundation_Basic_Stack_Blk_CMYK.jpg

Support from the Getty Foundation through its Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internship initiative.

DutchCultureUSA_logo_url.jpg

Support from the Consulate General of the Netherlands

in New York

OUR PARTNERS

QATAR VISUAL ARTS CENTER 

 

MINISTRY OF CULTURE, ARTS AND HERITAGE QATAR

KataraArtCenter.jpg

KATARA ART CENTER 

 

MOPLA

MUSEO DE LAS ARTES UNIVERSIDAD

DE GUADALAJARA

IFITRY RESIDENCY OF ARTISTS

UNIVERSITY OF ARTS BAJA CALIFORNIA

CULTURAL INSTITUTE

OF BAJA CALIFORNIA

CONTEMPORARY ART

PLATFORM - CHILE

ARTE AL LIMITE

CENTER OF THE 

ARTS ESTACION 

ANTOFAGASTA - CHILE

BICE BUGATTI

CLUB

CENTRE D'ART CONTEMPORAIN

ESSAOUIRA 

REDLINE

CONTEMPORARY 

ARTS CENTER

LA ART SHOW

18699895_265185523888546_392767131726600

CONTEMPORARY

EXPRESSIONS OF ART

MAROC PREMIUM

FOUNDATION

THE BROAD

logokai10arthSW_300dpi.jpg

KAI 10 ARTHENA FOUNDATION

INTERNATIONAL 

BIENNIAL

OF CASABLANCA

CENTER OF THE ARTS

ENSENADA, BC, MEXICO

SANTO TOMAS

CULTURAL ART CENTER

ART SCI CENTER UCLA

IASAS

VILLA AURORA +

THOMAS MANN HOUSE

logo_angew-blk.jpg
cg_LA_en.jpg
Sponsor Semra Berliner Senat.jpg

UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED

ARTS VIENNA

CONSULATE GENERAL

OF POLAND

SENATE OF BERLIN

NATIONAL YOUNGARTS FOUNDATION

IIC-colore-losangeles.jpg

ITALIAN CULTURAL

INSTITUTE OF

LOS ANGELES

LUCIE FOUNDATION

©2024 BY BUILDING BRIDGES ART EXCHANGE | PHONE: 323-893-3924 | EMAIL: BUILDINGBRIDGESAX@GMAIL.COM

bottom of page